LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Galileo Resources reported progress in the modelling of historic drill data at Luansobe on Tuesday, as well as completion of the second payment to the vendors to secure an initial 75% interest in the Luansobe Copper Project in Zambia.
The AIM-traded firm said "considerable progress" had been made by consultants Addison Mining Services in compiling drill data for 154 holes, drilled between 1921 and 2007, and initial modelling of the deposit.

It said two concurrent development options were being considered, with the first being the potential for a small open pit mine of between three and five million tonnes, to exploit the up-dip portion of the copper deposit in the northwest of the licence area.

The second option was the prospect for a larger mine, to develop the resources down-dip and along strike to the southeast where drill data was more sparse.

It said it was planning to start preparations for shallow mining in the northwest before the end of the year, while undertaking a drilling campaign to confirm historic drill results and to further define a potentially larger resource towards the southeast.

The company said it was making arrangements for the coming week to view drill core believed to be held at the nearby Mopani copper mine, to further increase confidence in the historic drill reports.

At the same time, it confirmed that the second cash and share payment had been made under the joint venture agreement with the vendor of Luansobe, to secure the initial 75% interest in the project.

"We are pleased with the outcome of the interrogation of historic drill data which indicates good potential for a small open pit in the range of three to five million tonnes of copper ore based on current economics," said chairman and chief executive officer Colin Bird.

"If the modelling continues to be satisfactory, we will prepare for commencement of a small open pit mining operation using third party contractors.

"We are particularly encouraged by the larger potential - we are planning for further drilling in the southeast of the property to test previous suggestions of larger tonnages and grades in excess of 1.5% copper."

At 1629 GMT, shares in Galileo Resources were up 8.83% at 1.17p.

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